


United

by NoiraKai



Category: Starfighter (Comic)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 14:10:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2153523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoiraKai/pseuds/NoiraKai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A part of the Divided storyline, occurring after Cain and Abel have been discharged from the service. Posting unfinished for Caibel Week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

For months and months and months, he let Abel think he was broke. Let him think he kept losing all his officer's pay gambling with other Fighters. Hinted that there might be some loan shark on the ship he owed money to, that might actually be able to kick his ass if he didn't pay up.

And that, in and of itself, was a gamble. He just had to hope Abel wasn't too attached to the financial savviness he had learned from growing up poor. Had to hope that Abel would put up with it, and it would be worth it in the end.

And then when the day came, and they were finally discharged from the service, and they became Sacha and Ethan instead of Cain and Abel, he bought them two shuttle tickets to Doma, the little moon where they had gone on their first date.

They had gone back since then a couple of times, gone back to the little cafe where they had met Magda, and she always embraced them with open arms. She kept a photo of them in their dress uniforms behind the counter, Cain in the boldest black, and Abel in the brightest white. She always bragged to anyone who would listen, about their heroics in the war, pointing out the matching Silver Stars on their chests. She was always so happy to see the Fighter and his little Navigator safe, and always tried to stuff them full of borscht and bread and cake before they went on their way.

And as had become somewhat of a tradition, Sacha left Ethan there with Magda, to go “take care of some things.”

 

A ring was no big deal to Sacha. The antique watch he had bought Ethan all those moons ago had been much more expensive than any ring, but it would mean something to Ethan, so Sacha picked one out anyway. A silver-colored band, with an elegant, asymmetrical design. And then he took the rest of the wad of money that had been burning a hole in his pocket for all those months, and he went to go make a down payment on a house.

Magda had arranged it all for him, set him up with the realtor, had sent him pictures of several different places in a nice part of town, and Sacha found one that was perfect. So that afternoon, he went to the realtor just as they had planned, and signed all of the paperwork, everything up until the last line, the line that would make the house his. And he took that last page, and folded it in his pocket, and the realtor handed him the keys. Just as they had planned.

By the time he got back to the cafe, Ethan had already gotten bored, and was stirring pots for Madga, and so Sacha just walked in, and plopped down on one knee in the middle of the kitchen before he could chicken out.

Ethan turned his head, continued to distractedly stir noodles, eyes wide as saucers. Probably suspecting what Sacha was up to, but not wanting to be wrong. He absent-mindedly turned the heat off of the stove and moved the pot so the noodles wouldn't burn.

Sacha reached into his back pocket and pulled out the little silver ring, and just held it in front of him for Ethan to see; smiled huge as Ethan clasped his hands over his mouth and crept over to where Sacha was kneeling, almost tripping over his own feet.

“Ethan.” Sacha reached his other hand out, and Ethan took it, and they squeezed tight. “I love you. And I'd always be lost without you.”

A hush was starting to fall over the whole place, as the kitchen door was open, and about a third of the people in the small restaurant could see inside. And everyone could hear.

Sacha said it only loud enough for Ethan to hear, because this moment was for them, and no one else.

“Will you marry me?”

And immediately, he knew he had done exactly the right thing, as Ethan's curly smile was brighter than it had ever been, and Ethan was so overwhelmed by it, that all he could do was nod in agreement, and shake in excitement as Sacha put the ring on.

Ethan pulled Sacha to his feet then and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. And from the look he gave him, it was likely that Ethan would rip his clothes off right then, and make love to him in the middle of Magda's kitchen. So Sacha gave their audience a quick wave as he pulled Ethan out the back door and into the alley, and the flaring light of the setting sun.

Ethan kissed him something fierce, pulling and encouraging Sacha to press him up against the brick wall, hands everywhere, until finally he slipped a hand into Sacha's back pocket and found the keys.

“What's this?” he asked, voice and eyes still full of disbelief.

“Well, I thought...” Sacha shrugged. “...we could go look at a house. I know you like it here. And I have enough money for a down payment, and... we can go look at this one right now, if you want.”

And it was then, that Ethan started to cry. Sacha just hugged him tight, couldn't help but chuckle at what a mess the little blond was being about it. Because the truth was, that Sacha kind of wanted to cry, too.

“Heh... okay,” Sacha murmured gently as he petted at Ethan's blond, almost white hair. He nuzzled his nose in it, and spoke softly. “I love you. I want to do this right. I want you to be happy.”

“But --” Ethan pulled away, shaking his head in bewilderment, his forehead somewhat wrinkled and his face glistening with tears. “-- I thought... where did you get the money? I thought you were broke!”

Sacha just laughed some more, the muscles in his face starting to hurt from smiling so much, and gently wiped a tear off of Ethan's cheek. “Princess, the only gamble that I ever made, was on you.”

Ethan beamed at that, his breath hitching as he tried to giggle and sniffle at the same time.

“So,” Sacha put his arms around Ethan's waist. “You want to go look at the house or what?”

Ethan demurely bit his lip, looking up with eyes begging to see Sacha's confidence. He must have seen it, because he finally answered. “Yeah, okay.”

“Yeah?” Sacha raised his eyebrows, determined to not be pushy when Ethan was already crying and not thinking straight.

“Yeah.” Ethan nodded.

“Okay, let's go.”

 

The house was bigger than any Sacha had lived in as a kid, and he feared, smaller than any Ethan had ever seen. So he just pressed his lips together in anxiety and restraint, and followed Ethan as he wandered through each empty room, eyes full of wonder and possibility. He wanted this to be Ethan's decision as much as it was his.

“I love it,” was the final verdict, as Ethan leaned against the island in the kitchen.

“You sure?” Sacha asked anyway.

“Yes.”

“I mean, because we can go look at other places --”

“Nope, this is it.”

“...This is it?”

“Yeah. I love it. It's perfect.”

“Okay. I was hoping you'd say that...” Grinning, Sacha pulled the white page out of his other pocket and unfolded it. “I just have to sign right here, and it's ours.”

Sacha was so happy that everything had gone according to his plan. So happy that Ethan had actually said yes. So happy that he had done the right thing for once in his life. And that night, they celebrated, as the ink dried on that last page of paperwork, by fucking in every room in their new house. Their new home.


	2. Chapter 2

Ethan groaned, wincing against the sunlight that spilled into the window and right into his eyes. _Not sunlight, starlight,_ he thought to himself, noticing the faint red sheen. _Not my sun, anyway._ Ethan was far, far away from home, but that didn’t seem to matter so much when he was wrapped up in Sacha’s arms.

They had slept awkwardly, propping up against a wall in the bedroom of their empty new house, with Ethan using Sacha’s chest as a pillow. Both of them in nothing but their underwear, Ethan winced again as he pulled out of Sacha’s grasp, and their skin slowly came unstuck. Underneath him, Sacha made a rumbly sigh, as Ethan leaned forward to stretch out his muscles, which were pleasantly aching from the night before.

As Sacha stretched awake behind him, Ethan stole a glance at the ring on his finger, admiring the way its mirror-like finish reflected the red morning light. He smiled at the thought that Sacha had chosen it for him; it certainly wasn’t what he would have picked out, but Ethan had no inkling as to what he would have chosen if given the opportunity. He’d been utterly unprepared for any of it.

“Mmfuck!” Sacha mumbled behind him, and it gave Ethan a little shock, wondering if maybe Sacha had come to his senses and changed his mind about the whole thing. He turned around to see Sacha sleepily rubbing at his neck, eyes squeezed closed with pain or maybe just not wanting to wake up.

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed. “I guess we need to get a bed, huh?” Sacha opened one eye, peering around the empty room before squeezing it shut again, and Ethan chuckled at him, and twisted around to give Sacha a warm, lingering kiss on the mouth. “Good morning,” he said softly, and Sacha just grunted in response, eyes still heavy and closed.

He grunted some more as he shifted his torso experimentally, looking as stiff as Ethan felt. “God we had so much sex last night,” Sacha breathed, his voice straining as he stretched out some more.

“Are you _complaining?”_ Ethan asked with a bit of mock sternness.

“Mmmfuck no,” he answered, finally opening his eyes and flashing Ethan a knowing smile, looking him over like he was getting nostalgic about all the things they’d done and was ready to do them all over again.

“Yeah…” Ethan said doubtfully. “I’m not complaining either, but… I might be out of commission for a few days.” He smiled as he said it, pleased with himself for having worn Sacha out the night before, until they were both stumbling through the house trying to figure out where to collapse. It was so nice to have some privacy for once, where they could be as loud as they wanted, as naked as they wanted, and as dirty as they wanted.

On that thought, Ethan took a quick sniff of his armpit. “Augh,” he grimaced. “I need a shower…” He pushed up off of the soft carpet, and padded over to his suitcase to find his toiletries and something to wear.

“Want some company?” Sacha asked, making Ethan look to where he was lazily watching Ethan bent over his luggage.

Ethan gave him a suspicious look, even as he began to blush a little. “ _Okay,_ but I really do need to get clean. And you probably do too.”

 

The bath was huge, a big tub at least four times the size of the little stalls on the _Sleipnir_ , even the one they’d had to themselves as officers. With the added luxury of unlimited hot water, they took their time washing their hair and getting clean. Sacha didn’t try anything more than some unnecessary touching and some undemanding kisses, as if it took much more than that to get Ethan going anyway.

“Shit,” Ethan realized, when they had turned to prunes and finally decided to get out.

“What?”

“We don’t have any towels!” he mourned, laughing and dripping onto the cold tile. He went over to the set of cabinets, futilely opening them all even though he knew better than to expect them to be stocked.

“Well, fuck,” Sacha chuckled. “Guess we got kind of used to room service, didn’t we?”

“That’s okay, we can just add towels to the list. I guess we need to go shopping today, for sure,” he said, and walked back out into the bedroom, and over to the suitcase. He did his best to dry himself off with a clean shirt, throwing another one to Sacha for him to do the same. “We probably need to look over the house and figure out what all we need to get.”

“Hmm…” Sacha grunted in answer, sounding distracted by something, probably just Ethan’s naked ass.

Ethan pulled some boxers and jeans out of the suitcase and quickly threw them on. Grabbing yet another clean shirt, he made his way to the door while he pulled it over his head. “I’m gonna go downstairs and have another look around,” he announced.

“‘Kay.”

 

When Sacha finally came down to join him, Ethan was frantically looking through drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. He looked up at his fiance (boy was _that_ a weird word to have bouncing around in his brain), who ambled down the stairs with his hands in his pockets, dressed in some dark grey shorts and a black tank top. “Where could it _be?!”_ Ethan called out to him.

“Where could what be?” Sacha asked with a frown.

“The GDS? It’s got to be around here somewhere…” he said, opening a drawer he was sure he’d already opened two times.

“...What’s a GDS?”

Ethan looked up again. _“_ _You know,_ the little device that you order your groceries on? And then they deliver them to your house?” That didn’t seem to be ringing a bell with Sacha, so Ethan tried spelling it out further. “Grocery Delivery Service?”

“Um, we don’t… have that… in the colonies, Ethan.”

“What -- what do you mean? How are we supposed to get groceries without it?!” Ethan asked with authentic alarm. What was this, the fucking wilderness?

Sacha just shrugged lethargically. “Um, we go to the grocery store and pick them up ourselves?”

“...Oh.” Ethan let that sink in for a moment. _“_ _Really?”_

Sacha nodded at him, looking uncertain like maybe he was deciding Ethan was a crazy person and didn’t want to marry him after all.

“Well, that’s not so bad I guess,” Ethan conceded quickly. “I can just make a list on my phone, and we can go get some when we go shopping today,” he said cheerfully. “So let’s see, we need a bed, and some bedding and pillows,” he started counting the items on his fingers. “We need towels, we need groceries… is there a microwave? Oh, we definitely need a microwave--”

Ethan stopped mid-thought as he looked up and saw Sacha’s face. He was looking more and more downcast by the second.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan implored, approaching him slowly to put his hands on Sacha’s waist.

Sacha shrugged again. “I… I guess I didn’t think this through very good, did I?”

“Oh, no! That’s not true,” Ethan insisted. “This is just something people have to do when they…” _Get married? No… move in together? No…_   “When they uh, start out on their own, it’s fine--”

“No, Abel…” Sacha interrupted, reverting back to using task names. “It’s not that. I just… I spent all my money on the house and the signing fees and stuff. I’m broke,” he admitted, hunching his shoulders. “I don’t have money for all that stuff.”

Ethan just laughed at him, much to his dismay. _“_ _ _S_ acha,”  _he murmured, and pulled him forward by his raven hair for a reassuring kiss. “I’ve been saving my money too, you know.” Though Ethan wasn’t about to tell him how much.

“Oh,” Sacha grumped, making Ethan giggle some more.

“I mean, as much as I like the idea of you being my sugar daddy,” Ethan teased, pressing his nose to Sacha’s nose. “We’re in this together. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sacha conceded, not really looking at him.

“Did you really think I was gonna make you pay for everything?” Ethan fretted, holding Sacha’s chin with delicate fingers to make him look him in the eyes. But Sacha just shrugged, still looking dejected. Getting frustrated, Ethan gave him a hard look. “Sacha, if we’re gonna do this, then you’re gonna have to learn to talk to me when you’re upset about something. Okay?”

Sacha just sighed heavy and rolled his eyes at that. “Well then, you might as well just go ahead and leave now,” he half-joked.

Ethan swallowed, trying not to let that hurt too much. “So, you’re not even gonna try and explain it to me?” he chided.

Sacha took a few more moments and another heavy sigh before he answered. “I just… wanted to prove to you that I could do this,” he finally admitted. “I know you’re used to living on Earth, and there’s no way that I could give you that kind of life. But… I just wanted to show you that I could put a roof over your head, and you know…” he shrugged again. “Provide for your basic needs. If I can’t do that then I have no business asking you to live with me.”

Ethan grabbed Sacha by the shoulders and nudged him forward until he was backed up against the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Well this is all I need from you right now,” he declared, giving Sacha a stern look. “I need you to smile, and tell me you’re happy you get to marry me.”

Sacha pursed his lips and glared.

“Come on,” Ethan prodded with his own bright grin. “See, now I can tell you’re trying _not_ to smile.”

With some more of Ethan’s wordless encouragement, Sacha’s mouth finally stretched into an awkward smirk, his eyes wandering around the room, a bit of color in his cheeks. “Now say it,” Ethan commanded.

“Ethan, I’m so happy I get to marry you,” Sacha answered, a bit begrudgingly even if it sounded sincere.

“Good boy,” Ethan replied, dropping to his knees and quickly pulling Sacha’s cock out of his shorts, to swallow him whole and banish all those pouty thoughts out of his brain.

 


End file.
